Evermay Concert Series

BIOGRAPHY

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Benedict Kloeckner

Cello

Appointed Visiting Producer

Born in 1989, Benedict Kloeckner is recipient of the European Broadcasting Union Award (Bratislava), the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann (Berlin), Animato International Soloist Competition (Zürich), the Nicolas Firmenich Prize (Verbier Festival, Switzerland) and First Prize at the Manhattan International Music Competition New York. He was also awarded the European Culture Prize by the European Culture Foundation.

As a soloist, Benedict has performed with orchestras worldwide including the NDR Radio Symphony, German Radio, German State and Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestras, the Kremerata Baltica, the Slovakian Radio Orchestra, Porto Symphony, and Amsterdam, Berlin and Prague Chamber Orchestras, under the baton of conductors including Michael Sanderling, Howard Griffiths, Heinrich Schiff, Simon Gaudenz, Daniel Raiskin, Ingo Metzmacher, and Karl Heinz Steffens. Benedict performs regularly at such venues as Berlin's Philharmoniker and Konzerthaus, the Festspielhaus Baden Baden, Tonhalle Zurich, Laeizhalle Hamburg, "Mozarteum" Salzburg, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Rudolfinum Prague, John F. Kennedy Center, Symphony Hall Chicago, Carnegie Hall, Barbican Centre and Seoul Arts Center.

He enjoys playing chamber music with such partners as Sir András Schiff, Anne Sophie Mutter, Gidon Kremer, Christoph Eschenbach, Anna Fedorova, Antoine Tamestit and the Carducci String Quartet, and is regularly invited to renowned music festivals: Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Beethovenfest Bonn, Ludwigsburg, Schwetzingen, Gstaad and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern to name but a few. A keen interpreter of contemporary music, Benedict Kloeckner performed Wolfgang Rihm's cello concerto Temptation in Munich and the composer's duo concerto in autumn 2016. He recorded, for Genuin in co-operation with the SWR, the complete works for cello and piano by Howard Blake, for whom he has been dedicatee of numerous works.

This season he makes his debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, London, performing Blake's cello concert Diversions. Further highlights of the 17/18 season include two tours to the US, Hindemith's cello concerto with Ingo Metzmacher and the Orchester des Nationaltheater Mannheim, Schumann with the Istanbul State Symphony, a tour with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (Beethoven's Triple Concerto), and a chamber music concert at KKL Lucerne.

Benedict has recorded extensively: a CD of Italian concertos by Roberto Molinelli and Gian Carlos Menotti at the invitation of Gidon Kremer, with the Kremerata Baltica, conducted by Heinrich Schiff; the Schumann concerto with the German String Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Michael Sanderling (Genuin), which received high acclaim from international press and radio; rare works by Spanish composers (Hänssler Classic); pieces for cello by Rihm, Strauss and Poulenc (Movimentos Edition), which was nominated for the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik. He released a second recording with regular chamber music partner Anna Fedorova in 2017 of Franck and Chopin's sonatas for cello and piano.

From 2002 to 2009, Benedict Kloeckner studied with Martin Ostertag at the Hochschule für Musik, Karlsruhe. He furthered his studies with Frans Helmerson and Gary Hoffman within the Kronberg Academy Masters program, with generous support from the Angela Winkler-Scholarship. He has been awarded additional scholarships from the German National Merit Foundation, the foundation of the State Bank of Baden Württemberg, the Oscar und Vera Ritter Stiftung, and the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

Benedict Kloeckner plays an Italian cello by Francesco Rugeri (Cremona 1680), kindly on loan to him by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

BIOGRAPHY

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Ryo Yanagitani, D.M.A.

Piano

Hailed by the Washington Post as "a pianist's pianist," Ryo has established himself as one of Canada's shining artists. His success includes winning the gold medal at the 10th San Antonio International Piano Competition, where he was also given special recognition for a performance of the complete Chopin Ballades. He is the grand prize winner of the Hugo Kauder International Piano competition and a laureate of the Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition, the Dr. Luis Sigall International Piano competition in Vina del Mar (Chile), and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

Ryo has made concerto appearances with orchestras around the world, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Metropolitan Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the Moroccan Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Kioi Symphonietta. His performances have taken him to such venues as the Kennedy Center, The National Gallery of Art, Library of Congress, Carnegie Hall, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and Salle Cortot in Paris among others.

In addition to his solo career, he is much sought after as a chamber musician, performing in a wide range of settings from the duo sonata repertoire to large ensembles. Ryo is frequently invited as guest pianist to chamber music festivals across the US, in the capacity of both lecturer and collaborative pianist. He also presided as one of the core members of the Evermay Chamber Ensemble.

A recipient of many scholarships and awards, Ryo has been endowed twice by the Canadian Arts Council with a grant as an Emerging Artist, and is a recipient of the Arthur Foote Scholarship from the Harvard Musical Association. He was also awarded the Sony Foundation of America Career Grant through the Salon de Virtuosi of New York, and a Washington Award by the S&R Foundation of Washington DC. He has also been an artist-in-residence of the Maxwell Shepherd Fund of Connecticut. Ryo is increasingly recognized not only as a performer but as a pedagogue, and is in demand as adjudicator to competitions and as masterclass clinician in North America and Asia. He has also released two solo CDs consisting of works by Chopin and Debussy, as well as a CD in collaboration with the cellist Dai Miyata in Japan.

Ryo Yanagitani received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Yale School of Music under Boris Berman, a Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance from the University of British Columbia under Doctor Henri-Paul Sicsic, and an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute under Sergei Babayan. He was an instructor for the Chamber Music Program at Yale, and was a visiting Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He currently holds the title of Artistic Director of the Ryuji Ueno Foundation in Washington DC.